Golden Gaia News Roundup: November 24, 2014

Happy Monday, dear friends. I hope you all had a recharging weekend and are ready to face a marvelous new week. My youngest daughter and I did one of her favorite things this weekend. We pulled out the old home videos of her childhood and we had a marathon. She loves to see her young self and compare it to her grown self, seeing how much her life has changed in 18 years.

A while back, I took the old super 8mm home movies that my parents filmed and had them converted to video as well. Watching these movies reminds me of just how different life has become. Things we take for granted now, like the instant communication we are enjoying here, did not even exist.

I used to think about all the changes that occurred in my granny’s life, who was born just after the turn of the century. She experienced the birth of the electrical and automobile age certainly, but in my 50 years the changes came in an unending flow as well. Many of these changes had such a positive effect on our lives. Looking back and taking stock of life certainly gives me hope that issues we currently think are immovable will experience change in the future as well.

Let’s get hopping with the news so we can move forward with the rest of our day. Today, we revisit a number of issues we have shared in the past, and bounce around from there.

Iranian woman who was jailed for watching a male volleyball game is freed on bail.

Ghoncheh Ghavami holds dual British and Iranian citizen. She was arrested in June when she went with a group of other women to watch a male volleyball game. Women are banned from attending sporting events in Iran, because authorities believe they needed protection from the lewd behavior of male fans.

Ghavami was also detained, because authorities thought she took part in propaganda against the Iranian regime. She went on a hunger strike to protest her imprisonment, and was recently released on bail pending appeal of her 1-year prison sentence. She also received a 2-year travel ban in her sentencing. Although she holds British citizenship, Iran does not recognize it, so she cannot receive help from her other homeland.

Hundreds of volunteers grab snow shovels to help their neighbors in Buffalo, New York.

Certain areas in Buffalo, NY, recently received over 6 feet of lake-effect snow. This put extreme stress on local emergency services, and many people were trapped in their homes for five days.

Concerned residents, in areas that were not dramatically effected, created the Shovel Brigade Mob using social media to get volunteers to help out. They matched volunteers with folks who contacted them for assistance. Over 400 mob members traveled around the area and shoveled out those who needed help. The grass roots effort of neighbor helping neighbor made a huge difference in storm recovery and those who were helped were so thankful. Travel bans are still in place in the areas hardest hit by the unprecedented weather.

New bus benches in Vancouver, BC convert to dry sleeping spots for the homeless.

It rains in Vancouver, BC, over 200 days a year, and it is difficult for local homeless people to find a dry place to sleep. A partnership between outdoor advertising agency, Spring, and RainCity Housing, which advocates for area homeless, is trying to change that.

They have created bus benches that convert to dry sleeping shelters at night. The shelters also give the address of RainCity, so the homeless can get access to additional services.

An artist couple in Detroit, MI are turning abandoned buildings into community art.

We previously shared an article on all the good things happening in Detroit. It’s so nice to find more good news on the subject. A few years ago, an artist couple moved into a local neighborhood, and turned their house into an art project.

They then started buying up foreclosed homes and turning them into art as well. When completed, the houses are used as community resources. They have already created a recording studio, recreational facility, and performing arts center.

They are currently working on a community welcome center to foster visitors from outlying areas who wish to experience the placed-based Power House Productions’ creations. The project has encouraged a strong sense of community in the once crumbling neighborhood.

What happens when you put a bunch of stressed people into a box of kittens?

Andrea Scully sent me this lovely video, and it brought me such joy. As a devoted animal momma, I know that interactions with other species bring such peace to the heart.

This adorable video documents the reaction of self-professed stressed people to spending time in a glass box filled with kittens. The idea is brilliant, and I loved the reaction of the onlookers as well.

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Build what is divinely beautiful. I give you my divine authority to do so. I will guide you. I will help you. But I entrust this to you as well. …

We are helping you. That gateway is open and you are being flooded and you are being assisted and you will be assisted every step of the way.